Computers are very powerful and versatile. They have the capability to run a great variety of software to perform many functions and to access remote information over a network, such as the Internet. Administrators who manage computers in an organization, such as business or school, recognize that granting all of this unfettered power and options to an individual user may confuse the user and distract the user from the user's assigned or expected task. Thus, administrators may want to (1) limit users to less than the full capabilities of the computer and (2) tailor the user's computer environment to the tasks that the user is anticipated to be doing.
For example, in an education environment, students in a math class should be doing math exercises on the computer, not reading novels or playing games. Thus, when users enter the math class, the administrator would like the computer to be set up (tailored) for the math environment and only the math environment. For example, computer users in math class may need access to math tools, math servers, and math printers. In contrast, in English class, the users might very well be reading novels on the same or a different computer.
Managing distributed computers becomes difficult because, for example, the same computer may be used by multiple users for multiple classes, and one user may move between different computers and different classes, during which time the user's environment needs to be tailored and limited differently.